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Copertina The Concept of Heaven and its Interpretation in Korean Religious History

The Concept of Heaven and its Interpretation in Korean Religious History / Sung-Hae Kim

Abstract/Sommario: The concept of Ha-no-nim (an honorific title for Heaven), the supreme deity, has existed for a long time in the consciousness of Koreans, being the fundamental faith which Koreans possessed before Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity were introduced. Whenever these religions were accepted, the concept of Ha-no-nim was not rejected but always reinterpreted. The article examines the changes of this concept during the ages, through myths and traditions and classic literature, ...; [Leggi tutto...] The concept of Ha-no-nim (an honorific title for Heaven), the supreme deity, has existed for a long time in the consciousness of Koreans, being the fundamental faith which Koreans possessed before Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity were introduced. Whenever these religions were accepted, the concept of Ha-no-nim was not rejected but always reinterpreted. The article examines the changes of this concept during the ages, through myths and traditions and classic literature, divided in four periods:
The primal concept of Hanonim from Old Choson to the Three Kingdom period ( 4. cent. BC-668): In the earlier times of Korean culture, Heaven takes an initiative either by coming down directly or by sending a son to the Earth. The earth also has its part, producing a hero son by receiving the power of Heaven either in the form of a bear who became a woman, the miraculously pregnant daughter of the river, or a personified turtle. The son , born from the union of the Heaven and earth, funds a state and rules it as the son of Heaven. Through these founding myths ancient Koreans asserted that their states were independent countries equal to China.
Buddhist interpretation in the Unified Shilla Period (668-935) : Buddhist monks contributed greatly to the cultural and intellectual advancement of the people and played a role as royal advisors. Since Buddhism does not acknowledge any absolute God, Korean Buddhist monks had to struggle with how to adopt the popular faith in Hanonim. They found the closest equivalent in the figure of the highest deva Indra, for he rules the thirty-three heavens as the Lord of Mount Sumeru, even though Indra-Heaven does not possess the same supremacy as the original Hanonim. The two streams of interpretation of Heaven (the Buddhist and the popular, traditional one) continued as long as the socio-political power of Buddhism was intact, till the Koryo dynasty. After that not only the image of Indra-Heaven, but the Buddhist rituals in connection with it disappeared. Amazingly enough, it was the ordinary populace who preserved the original concept of Heaven and naturally revived it when the structural pressure was lifted.
Confucian and Taoist interpretations in the Koryo Period (918-1392); The Koryo period was the most syncretic time in Korean history. The traditional notion of Hanonim giving life and blessing survived with other aspects of Confucian Heaven, containing a strong ethical character as the moral principle of life. These two dimensions were synthetized into one supreme deity who is also the moral principle of life. Concerning Taoism, Tao is connected with the transformations of all things; Heaven is understood as the subject who listens to the cries of people and subsists in those who are the virtuos. The Emperor of Heaven is connected with judgment of good and evil. In this way the traditional concept of Hanonim, the Confucian notion of Lord on High and the Taois conception of Tao interpenetrated. In Korea Taoism has not succeeded in forming a separate religious community, but its influence has been immense in thought, life, literature, medicine, art, and the way of life in general. The present concept of Hanonim contains the Taoist emphasis on silent Tao which governs according to natural flow.
The Neo-Confucian interpretation in the Choson Period (1392-1910): Neo-Confucianism was introduced in Korea in the early part of the 14. cent. under the Mongolian reign. Insisting on orthodoxy Buddhism, Taoism and Shamanism were considered heterodox teaching that should not be tolerated, at least in the public sphere. However the Neo-Confucians did not reject the concept of Hanonim, but understood it as the final moral pledge. According to Confucianism, the king has received the mandate to rule the people from Heaven, and so if there is something wrong in political affairs Heaven brings calamities as a warning. Heaven or the Lord on High is understood as the source which has bestowed a moral heart on human beings. Thirdly Hanonim is still conceived as the object of sacrifice who rules the hundred deities
Popular and Christian interpretations in the Modern Period: The term "Western Learning" stood for the civilization coming from the West, which included Christianity and science. Matteo Ricci (1552-1611) and other Jesuits' works were the basic texts until the 19th century. Ricci's book The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, written in Chinese, was widely circulated in Korea and made it possible for a Catholic community to spring up in 1784, when Yi Sunghun was sent to Beijing in order to find out more about Catholic teaching and came back after being baptized. Chong Yachong (1760-0801), author of the first Korean catechism, began with the assumption that everyone has the ability of recognizing God, and he identified the Christian God with the traditional Hanonim. He did not invite people to believe in a new and different deity, but offered more information about the same God. Whereas Matteo Ricci identified Christian God with the Lord of Heaven of the Confucian Classics, Chong Yakchong identified God with the traditional Hanonim, with which ordinary people could easily sympathize with. After this identification, Chong Yakchong adds the Christian understanding of God as Creator, Redentor and Sanctifier: Hanonim becomes a monotheistic God who reveals truth through the history of Israel and the incarnation of Jesus. This identification of the Christian God with Hanonim was also followed by the first Protestant theologian Ch'oe Pyonghun (1858-1927) The adoption of the name of Hanonim as the official name of God in the common Korean translation of the Bible confirms this identity. Even today Hanonim continues to stay at the highest position in the spiritual world and Buddha and other deities are all participating in the deciding power for human life

Copertina Sacramental and Prophetic Aspects of Korean Shamanism

Sacramental and Prophetic Aspects of Korean Shamanism / Daniel A. Kister

Abstract/Sommario: Shamanic rites called kut are rooted in Korean religious experience, even before the coming of other religions. In 1983 there was one shaman, or mudang, per thousand persons: they are especially women, coming from shaman families or initiatory ones. Gods and ancestral spirits are thought to possess them or kut participants. Kut rites employ various forms of prophetic, sacramental, aesthetic, and dramatic activity. Intimately bound with nature, kut commonly take place not in a u but at ...; [Leggi tutto...] Shamanic rites called kut are rooted in Korean religious experience, even before the coming of other religions. In 1983 there was one shaman, or mudang, per thousand persons: they are especially women, coming from shaman families or initiatory ones. Gods and ancestral spirits are thought to possess them or kut participants. Kut rites employ various forms of prophetic, sacramental, aesthetic, and dramatic activity. Intimately bound with nature, kut commonly take place not in a u but at a striking natural setting - old tree, mountain, unusual rock formation, spring of a fresh water, sea. Many invoke nature gods - Mountain God, Big Dipper, The Dragon God of the Sea. They summon no personal or totemic God or intermediary - as in the rites of Siberian hunting people. The kut tradition is closer to the biblical, focusing principally on his presence at work in a community and its history. In the kut participants become transformed into a people joined not only by blood and local ties, but by the harmonizing presence of their gods over time at the natural kut site.. Many of the signs that vitalize kut words are sacramental, meaning to mediate the presence and power of the divine. this mentality persists in some Korean Christians, who are more prone to see divine action in a strange phenomena like a weeping statue of Mary than in the Eucharist.
Also th e home is alive with supernatural presence in form of gods of the house plot, the roof beam, the kitchen, the outhouse; and in times of transition and crisis, the family sponsors kut to invoke aid of many other gods and ancestral spirits. Family kut may consist in a day-long series of mimetic representations of gods and ancestral spirits performed by mudang and musicians before altar-tables piled with food at a site vibrant with drumming, chant, colourful costumes, lively dance and comic banter. Perhaps in a mild trance, the mudang does a quickening dance to the neat of a drum to summon a god or spirit into her. The sponsors ask the god's aid: and the god, through the mudang, gives oracular advice about their situation, clarification of the future, and words of consolation. Divinatory signs, the appearance of trance, or wondrous theatrical feats at times bolster belief in the gods' presence and the truth of what is said. IN the Judeo-Christian tradition interaction with supernatural being springs in part from awareness of the evi that haunts human life. In the kut vision, it is prone to pollution and the feeling of frustration, resentment or rancor called han, especially in times of family crisis and transition. Some Korean Catholics speak in the confessional not so much of their own sinful failings as of the han they have from what others have done to them. The priest's words of spiritual advice have divine sanction, but they lack a kut's concrete power to deal with han. Perhaps for that reason, some turn to kut, whose procedures are more psychological than sacramental.
A traditional shaman is called, chosen by supernatural being. A mudang suffers the pain of dying to ordinary human life and lives anew in the service of the gods and pained human beings.. A Christian monotheist trying to appreciate the kut world is confronted with its myriad of gods and spirits. There are at least 273 deities. Kut worshippers do not think of their gods as manifestations of one, all-powerful heavenly being. The gods are discrete helpful deities with limited powers and functions. The kut pantheon includes the God of Heaven, but it focuses on indigenous deities who constitute limited models for imitation and express a limited care for Korean people at indigenous sites. Christians focus on sin and forgiveness, kut worshippers on defilement and purification, han and its release

Copertina Toward a New Paradigm for Mission in Japan (2.) :Toward a Postmodern Paradigm

Toward a New Paradigm for Mission in Japan (2.) :Toward a Postmodern Paradigm / Robert Lee

Abstract/Sommario: In the second part of the essay: Toward a Postmodern Paradigm the A. reconsiders the Japanese religious tradition. Japan added to its native tradition the Buddhist religion and Confucian statecraft and social ethics from China via Korea, beginning from the 6th century to create a clan-based centralized monarchy. In the 16th and 19th centuries Japan got in touch with . The A. focuses on ten Issues for mission in Japan today: for example : the new paradigm for mission must begin with the ...; [Leggi tutto...]